The Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable

People, over the years have learned how to eat all parts of hundreds of different plants. This includes everything from the flowers to the fruit to the stems and leaves to the seeds and on to the roots too.

Celery and rhubarb are stemsLettuce and spinach are leafy vegetablesBroccoli is clusters of tiny flower buds that bloom if you don’t pick it
Artichoke is a giant flower budPotatoes and turnips are root vegetablesHerbs are classified as vegetablesMushrooms are FungusEggplant is a fruit and so is corn!
Now the tomato…

Most people assume that the tomato is a vegetable because we use it as one in savory dishes along side other veggies like potatoes and carrots. The tomato is even sold in the vegetable section of the grocery store. So, why would we think different?

Think desserts!

We don’t use them in desserts. There are very, very few deserts that contain tomatoes! They just don’t fit with the fruit category. It seems logical then that it would be thought of as a vegetable. I was well into adulthood before I ever considered that a tomato wasn’t a vegetable.

The tomato is very definitely a FRUIT!

This brings about the question of other “veggies”. Are they actually fruits?? Let’s find out!

Is a potato a fruit or is a pepper a vegetable?

It’s all about seeds

The answer lies in the seeds.

If the thing you’re looking at makes seeds, then it’s a FRUIT! If not, it’s a vegetable.

So, with that knowledge everything changes what we thought about the garden and what’s a fruit and what’s a veggie!

A cucumber, a hot pepper (any pepper), a pumpkin, green beans and squash are all fruits! Who knew, eh?

It’s the potatoes, carrots, turnips, aparagus, rutabagas and others that are the vegetables. (Hint: There are no obvious seeds to be seen)

Now you know that a tomato is a fruit and potatoes are definitely vegetables. You are also now able to identify a fruit from a vegetable even if you’ve never seen it before.

More Fruits Disguised as Vegetables!

Olives, Peas, Pumpkin, Squash, Chili peppers, Eggplant and Corn are all fruit, not vegetables at all. Each of them make seeds either inside or on the surface like a corn cob.

Interesting fact: Peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash are all biologically fruit but they are taxed as vegetables and classified as such.